NHS counting the cost of seven million missed appointments

[Northerner]

The NHS lost millions of pounds because 6.7million patients missed hospital appointments over 12 months.

More than seven out of 100 out-patients failed to attend a consultation and did not cancel or reschedule, the Health and Social Care Information Centre said.

The worst perpetrators were men, particularly those in their 20s.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/14/nhs-counting-the-cost-of-7m-missed-appointments-3475863/

 

[StephenM]

I would like to see how they do these calculations! If I am seen half an hour late it's early and waits of over two hourts are not untypical. One consultant told me that if everyone turned up clinics would overrun by many hours! And more than once the consultant has not turned up!

 

[Northerner]

My dentist charges ?25 if you miss an appointment without cancelling with 24 hours notice - they don't send out reminders either, so you have to take responsibility for it yourself. Problem is that there is no penalty or coercion to turn up, so some people just don't bother. I'm sure there are a lot of missed appts. where there is a genuine reason for it though. I don't really blame the system for overbooking based on the likely no-shows, seems efficient to me, although they do probably overdo it these days given cash constraints